The Giants head into their matchup with the Washington Commanders with a few different storylines swirling around the roster, from the state of the run game to Malik Nabers’ latest comments and the team’s search for answers at backup quarterback.
One of the clearest concerns remains the ground attack. The longest run by a Giants running back this season is still Cam Skattebo’s 13-yarder, and coach John Harbaugh didn’t hide from that reality.
“We’re just not good enough yet,” Harbaugh said. “Defenses are playing us pretty well.
As we get better, we’ll probably have more longer runs, also if we make them pay more with play action, I think that’ll loosen them up a little probably. We’ve just got to keep getting better.
The guys are working hard at it. We’re playing very hard.
We’re trying to play very physically. All the elements are there, we just have to get better.”
The backfield picture has also shifted sharply. Najee Harris lost a fumble at the Cardinals’ 42-yard line with the Giants ahead 27-24 early in the fourth quarter, and that turned out to be his final snap of the game.
Harris finished with nine carries for 30 yards and a two-point conversion, and Harbaugh appeared to be leaning on him as the closer before the turnover. New York has now fumbled seven times in four games, though only two of those have been lost to the defense, including Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s in Week 1.
Skattebo had his first game without a fumble, but the production was modest: 20 carries for 58 yards, good for 3.2 yards per rush. He also enters the week with the most rush attempts in the NFL - 68 - without a 15-plus yard gain, according to Ian Hartitz of RotoWire.
Tracy had one carry for minus-1 yard, while veteran Devin Singletary has seen his role shrink all the way down to inactive in Weeks 3 and 4 after logging 25 snaps in the opener and 15 in Week 2. Harbaugh said Singletary wants to play and that the team still values him, but the three active backs have the defined roles in the game plans right now.
There’s at least one area where the line is trending in the right direction. PFF’s 2026 NFL offensive line rankings moved the Giants up two spots to No. 20 after Week 4.
The change came with Bryan Hudson replacing John Michael Schmitz Jr. in the starting lineup, and Hudson responded with a 73.8 PFF grade while not allowing a single pressure on 37 pass-blocking snaps. At tackle, Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor have both held up well in pass protection, combining to allow 11 pressures on 133 pass-blocking snaps.
On the defensive side, rookie linebacker Arvell Reese continues to make his presence felt. Bleacher Report’s latest ranking of the 99 best NFL rookies after Week 4 highlighted Reese, along with Washington linebacker Sonny Styles, as an instant-impact player. Reese’s versatility has carried over to the pro game, and over the Giants’ last two games he has posted 22 tackles, two tackles for loss, four pass breakups and an interception.
The Giants also continue to draw outside attention as a possible landing spot for edge rusher Khalil Mack, with SB Nation floating the idea of a Harbaugh brother trade. The logic is straightforward enough: if the Chargers decide to move on from the season and the Giants stay in the playoff mix, Jim Harbaugh might feel good about sending Mack to his brother John’s team. With Brian Burns out, Mack would fit New York’s needs.
There’s also plenty of buzz around the team’s 3-1 start. The New York Post noted that there are “so much about these Giants to get everyone excited,” pointing to the record and the fact that New York sits alone in first place in the NFC East. For a team that’s been defined by a lot of recent frustration, that standing has made the first month of the season stand out all the more.
And then there’s Malik Nabers, who has become one of the week’s central talking points after his emotional outburst and a missed practice, during which he said he was “sore.” The Giants have also added quarterback Jake Haener to their 53-man roster, according to a report, as they continue sorting out the backup QB situation while turning the page toward Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.
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For a franchise that celebrated the 40th anniversary of its 1986 Super Bowl team during this stretch, the timing only sharpened the contrast between the past and the present. Harbaugh has become the first Giants head coach to start this strongly at MetLife, and the bigger question now is whether this early home-field surge can become something sturdier as the season goes on. [Read more 🡒]
Giants May Have Missed Their Best John Michael Schmitz Window
John Michael Schmitz has been the Giants starting center for more than three seasons, but his grip on the job loosened in Week 4 when backup Bryan Hudson got the nod after Schmitz missed practice because of the birth of his child. The coach framed it as a short-term move tied to the weeks practice circumstances, not a broader shift on the offensive line, which kept the situation from becoming anything bigger in the moment.
Still, the timing has a way of lingering for a team that has already lived through plenty of line instability. Around the league, center help can vanish quickly, and Baltimores move to add Eagles center Cam Jurgens amid its own injuries is exactly the kind of market signal that can make a front office wonder what it missed. For the Giants, the question now is whether Schmitz was ever most valuable as an on-field starter, or whether his real trade window came when other teams were still scrambling for help and before the market tightened. [Read more 🡒]